February is renowned for producing plenty of heat and humidity on the mid north coast, although the southerly wind over the past few days has provided some temporary, but very welcome relief.

On the beaches, formations have redeveloped quickly after the big seas a couple of weeks ago. North Beach has fished well for school mulloway on beach worms just on and after dark, while closer to the break wall, some terrific flathead have been taken. While not always a target species in the surf, chasing flathead on our beaches can be very productive at this time of year. Working the small close in gutters and drop offs near low tide with either lures or whitebait is the way to go. Also on the beaches, whiting have been reasonable off Lighthouse along with a few nice bream.

Off the rocks, tailor have improved a little with Point Plomer and Diamond Head faring best, whilst Lighthouse locally is also worth a throw. A few nice bream have also been on the chew during late afternoons, with tailor strips proving the bait of choice. Little to report on the land based game scene as yet apart from the occasional cobia encounter, however from this month onwards is generally when it all happens. If this is your scene, now is the time to dust off the gear start prospecting Hat Head, Point Perpendicular and the numerous sneaky ledges in between.

In the estuary, flathead remain excellent with fish on offer from basically all points this side of where the river turns fresh. Lures of all types, whitebait and yabbies have been worth throwing. Pick of the other species has been whiting with terrific fish taken from the Maria, Limeburners and the back channel on both worms and yabbies. Bream continue to be first class up river, with surface lures still by far the premier tactic. On the crabbing front, there are plenty of muddies and a few good blue swimmers for those inclined to wield the traps or witches hats in search of a tasty feed.

Offshore action has been quite good with those fishing the bottom scoring good snapper to around 3 kilos, pearl perch and sampson fish, along with a continued excellent run on small to medium kingfish. Pelagic action has also been terrific with both blue and striped marlin out wide together with the odd yellowfin tuna, wahoo and big mahi mahi. Closer in small black marlin remain in good numbers, while rumours are swirling regarding a few more Spanish mackerel in Barries Bay.